Quiet but determined, new bar chief Capozzi
rolls up his sleeves

By Nancy McCarthyStaff Writer

When Anthony Capozzi was growing up in Buffalo, he loved visits from an uncle
who was an attorney with the Department of Justice. "He'd tell me about his
cases," Capozzi recalled recently. "I loved the way he dressed, with a great
topcoat. I said, 'God, what an image.' I thought it would be exciting to be
a lawyer and try a case."

(Click to Enlarge)

Little did the humble Capozzi think that not only would he become a successful
lawyer, he would live out his dream in sunny California and highlight his career
 thus far  by becoming president of the State Bar.

"To this day," he says, "I get a thrill with a new case. It is so exciting."

Now a fixture in Fresno, Capozzi has come a long way. Active in Democratic
politics, he's a successful fundraiser, acquainted with political figures throughout
California. As a white collar criminal defense attorney, he's a familiar face
in the Fresno federal court building. And as a local bar activist, he's known
to many of the city's nearly 2,000 lawyers.

"Tony's competent, he's qualified, he's a consensus-builder, he'll take a common
sense approach and he'll work hard," said Donald Fischbach, the only former
State Bar president from Fresno.

(Click to Enlarge)

Capozzi, 58, likely will need those qualities once he's sworn in as the bar's
79th president this month, taking the reins from Santa Barbara attorney James
Herman. Declining income and increasing expenses continue to pressure bar operations,
and it faces ongoing issues such as its relationship with the legislature, providing
adequate access to the courts and service to members.

Capozzi has spent the last couple of months learning at Herman's elbow and
is anxious to roll up his sleeves and get to work. "My motto is, 'where there's
a will, there's a way,' and I'm trying to come up with some new and innovative
ideas," he said.

Capozzi lists several priorities for the coming year:

He hopes to improve the bar's relationship with the legislature by working
with lawmakers throughout the year and enlisting help from members of the
legal community who are not active with the bar.

He wants to ensure access to justice by encouraging pro bono work and doing
what he can to keep court funding stable.

He will search for non-dues revenue to ease the bar's finances and will
work to increase the annual fee for inactive lawyers as a way to raise revenue.
"It's too early to tell what we can do for 2005," he said. "If need be, we'll
ask to raise dues, but I think $390 (the current fee for active attorneys)
is reasonable."

He is considering asking for an efficiency study of the bar's discipline
operation and he wants to look at the idea of introducing mediation into the
process. "I want to see if we can make discipline more effective, efficient
and economical," he said.

He wants to focus the board of governors on setting policy rather than involvement
in day-to-day operations. "We have to keep in mind our only employee is (executive
director) Judy Johnson and we should not be micro-managing," he said.

And he wants to let the public know the good things lawyers do, an awareness
which he thinks will in turn improve the public perception of attorneys.

He also plans to tap the expertise of previous presidents and, like Herman,
hopes to travel to as many counties as possible, making contact with lawyers
throughout the state.

"Tony's a real team builder and an effective leader," said Herman, who has
grown close to Capozzi in their three years together on the board of governors.
"He's done a tremendous job as chair of the planning committee in the past year,
and he's going to be a very budget-conscious leader." Herman noted that the
bar is caught "between a level income and increasing expenses" and said that
the "dilemma it will face in the coming year is how to approach that issue in
a way that does not threaten our core functions of public protection and member
services."

(Click to Enlarge)

Quiet and reserved, Capozzi said he learned determination from his working
class parents, who taught him that "to get anywhere in life, you needed to work
hard and be persistent." His late father, Joseph, was an Italian immigrant who
worked 40 years in New York's steel mills, never earning more than $5,000 a
year. His mother, Lilia, is now 89 and spends part of the year in Fresno with
Capozzi and his family.

The fourth of five boys, he was a high school athlete, earning all-conference
honors as a split end in football as well as playing on the basketball team.
But fear of injury and the possible loss of his scholarship made him resist
college football at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he majored
in philosophy and was elected president of his fraternity.

The first in his family to attend college, Capozzi financed his education by
working as a grocery clerk and cashier and during the summers joined his dad
in the steel mill. He lived at home until enrolling in law school at the University
of Toledo, inspired by that dapper uncle who eventually offered young Tony a
clerkship with Omer Poos, a federal judge in Springfield, Ill.

Nervous about such a daunting job, Capozzi told himself, "If I just worked
hard, I could do it." Indeed, the job turned into a three-year stint, and Poos'
inscribed photo hangs in a place of honor in Capozzi's conference room.

When his clerkship ended, the young lawyer knew it was time to start trying
cases, and having worked in federal court, thought prosecution work would suit
him. "I knew I wanted to be a federal prosecutor, and I knew I wanted to be
in warm weather," he recalled. While watching "Play Misty for Me," a Clint Eastwood
classic set on the central coast, during a raging blizzard, he decided California
would offer the weather he was looking for.

Capozzi sent resumes to four U.S. Attorneys in California and, when the first
offer came in from Fresno, he accepted and began trying civil and criminal cases.
The departure within six months of his boss allowed Capozzi to quickly climb
the ladder to supervising assistant attorney. He spent the next six years prosecuting
everything from medical malpractice in a veterans hospital to a range of crimes
within the central valley, which includes Yosemite, the national park with the
highest crime rate in the country.

With the support of local judges and several elected officials, Capozzi applied
for appointment as U.S. Attorney, and although he was one of three finalists,
he lost out, partly he felt because he lacked political connections.

He left the federal government to run for district attorney, winning the primary
but losing the general election. But he continued to work on building hid political
network and became a successful Democratic Party fundraiser while working as
a solo criminal defense lawyer, handling several high profile cases.

In 1989, politics called once more and Capozzi ran for mayor of Fresno. He
had defended a young woman in a drug case, and his opposition ran an ad deriding
Capozzi's profession, asking voters if they wanted a mayor who had defended
drug dealers. He lost the election and turned wholeheartedly to the law.

Capozzi works in a four-room suite, with the help of an administrative assistant
and a part-time bookkeeper. His office walls are covered with large portraits
of his children, Nicco, 21, a political science major at Fresno State, and Julia,
16, a high school junior and champion equestrian. The conference room bears
reminders of his political connections, with photos of President Carter, Walter
Mondale, Geraldine Ferraro, Tony Coelho and Richard Gephardt, as well as a prized
picture of Capozzi and his wife with the late King Hussein of Jordan at a White
House state dinner during the Carter Administration.

His shelves are crammed with law books that share space with scrapbooks and
boxes containing newspaper clippings about his cases. One of the most high-profile
involved a Taiwanese farmer accused of disturbing the habitat of four endangered
species, including the zoo rat. The case attracted national attention, a media
frenzy outside the courtroom and resulted in a book. "We won," Capozzi said.
"The government dismissed it."

He also defended former Assembly Speaker Brian Setencich on bribery and tax
evasion charges, but declined to represent Cary Stayner, later convicted of
murdering three Yosemite tourists and a park naturalist.

One of his most memorable cases, he said, was that of a bank robber he prosecuted
while in the U.S. Attorney's office. With testimony from five eyewitnesses and
other damning evidence, the man was convicted and sentenced to eight to 10 years
in prison. Four months after the conviction, Capozzi was approached by the FBI,
who reported an almost identical bank robbery had been committed in San Diego
and suggested an innocent man may have been convicted.

Capozzi eventually had the case dismissed. "I felt awful, I wrote him a letter
of apology," he said, describing his anguish.

Capozzi also handles occasional appointments to represent the indigent, and
last month made an appearance on behalf of a defendant accused of bank robbery
and another who was in the country illegally. Right now, he said wryly, "I'm
on a major losing streak."

Walking through the halls of the federal building, Capozzi was greeted by many
of his colleagues. "He's a very good lawyer, with one of the best reputations
in our community," said Michael J. "Mac" McGinnis, an attorney and longtime
friend. "He's very low key, very intelligent, a negotiator and a peacemaker."

Asked if he'd ever like to join the bench, Capozzi demurred. "I like trying
cases," he said. "I like fighting the battle.

"I love being a lawyer," he added. "If I were to die and come back again, I'd
want to be a lawyer. I can't imagine not doing what I'm doing. And I'm just
thrilled to be State Bar president."

Capozzi and his wife, Paula, have lived in the same home since 1981, overlooking
the San Joaquin Country Club and, in the distance, the Sierra Nevada. Capozzi
first noticed his future wife at the scene of the Chowchilla kidnapping in 1976,
when as a telephone company public relations executive, she set up phone service
for the dozens of reporters covering the story. Capozzi was a federal prosecutor
at the time and drove by the scene, thinking he might have to someday prosecute
the kidnappers.

"He's the sweetest guy I've ever met," Paula said. "He's very compassionate,
but at the same time real sharp. I think he'll bring a lot of respect through
his connections and the way he works with people both inside and outside the
bar."

When asked to describe himself, he hesitated, finding it difficult to talk
about himself. "I'm friendly, but I'm firm," he said. "I'm willing to change
my mind if you can convince me, but at some point, I have to make a decision
and go with it."

(Click to Enlarge)

Although Capozzi owns four horses and supports his wife and daughter's love
of riding, he only rides with Paula on her birthday and Mother's Day. His real
love is golf, which he managed to play 80 days last year. With his current busy
schedule, the number of games has dropped to a handful and his handicap, formerly
down to "almost single digits," is climbing. "Some-day I'm going to be a good
golfer," he sighed.

Also on hold are studies at Fresno State, where he's finishing up a master's
program in international relations. He plans eventually to earn a doctorate,
"mostly as a personal achievement."

(Click to Enlarge)

Despite 12-hour days, Capozzi is a devoted family man and spends as much time
as he can in the kitchen, whipping up Italian dishes from scratch. When it's
not too hot, he likes to relax and enjoy a cigar on his deck, looking at the
mountains in the distance.

When he was elected to the board of governors, after simultaneous presidencies
of the Fresno County Bar and San Joaquin Federal Bar associations, Capozzi was
a critic who believed bar dues were too high and discipline was imposed for
petty reasons. Three years later, he's far less critical, although he believes
a key issue hasn't changed much.

"My campaign issue was, 'Can we make the State Bar relevant to the lawyers
of California?' he said. "What can we do to help the member who's practicing
law every day and is concerned about his or her practice?

"I still believe we have a long way to go to show how we relate to the members."

 The swearing-in ceremony for the 79th president of the State Bar of California
is scheduled in Anaheim on Sept. 6 during the bar's Annual Meeting.